The invention relates to a motor vehicle comprising a driver assistance system which is configured to drive the motor vehicle independently during travel of the motor vehicle. The term “driving the motor vehicle” comprises here, on the one hand, the steering of the motor vehicle (consequences of a road profile, orientation of the motor vehicle within a lane, lane-changing maneuver), which is also referred to as lateral guidance, and, on the other hand, the control of the speed of the motor vehicle (accelerating, braking, emergency braking, stopping, maintaining the speed), which is also referred to as longitudinal guidance. The invention also includes a motor vehicle and a method for operating a motor vehicle, which method permits the performance of operator control of the driver assistance system.
A driver assistance system of the specified type is known from DE 10 2010 022 433 A1. According to said document, a driver assistance system can, in a fully automatic assistance mode, drive the vehicle completely independently. The driver of the motor vehicle then neither has to operate the steering wheel nor the pedals of the motor vehicle during travel and can therefore turn his attention to other things, such as, for example, operation of an infotainment system, for a relatively long time.
However, in the context of the invention independent driving of the motor vehicle is also to be understood as meaning a partially automatic assistance mode in which the degree of independence of the driver assistance system is reduced during the driving of the motor vehicle and which can then consist, for example, merely in the functionality of adjusting the speed of the motor vehicle to a set point speed or set speed which the driver predefines by setting a value of the corresponding driving parameter of the driver assistance system (cruise control).
A further desirable assistance mode is the autonomous driving of the motor vehicle by a driver assistance device. In contrast to the fully automatic assistance mode, in the autonomous assistance mode the driver assistance device also decides which values are to be implemented for the driving parameters (set point distances, set point speed) for an currently implemented driving maneuver and/or which driving maneuvers (lane change, turning off the road, parking and the like). In contrast, in the fully automatic assistance mode there is provision that the driver uses a user interface to predefine which driving maneuvers are to be implemented or which distances and speeds are to be set by the driver assistance device during an currently implemented driving maneuver as the vehicle travels along a lane. A further difference between the two assistance modes can consist in how the driver assistance device reacts in the event of an unforeseen development of events on the road, that is to say if safe driving is no longer ensured by the driver assistance device. In the fully automatic assistance mode there is then provision that the driver assistance device is deactivated and transfers control of the motor vehicle to the driver, while, in contrast, in the autonomous assistance mode the driver assistance device itself places the motor vehicle in a safe state, for example by stopping the motor vehicle.
Depending on the currently active assistance mode, certain driving tasks are carried out independently by the motor vehicle, i.e. without involvement of the driver, during travel. However, in this context it must be ensured for each assistance mode in which the driver assistance device can be operated that the driver is always clear as to the degree to which the driver assistance system monitors and drives the motor vehicle, which intervention possibilities are still available to the driver himself during the driving of the motor vehicle and which driving tasks the driver must necessarily carry out himself. If the driver loses an overview here his safety may be compromised. If the driver wrongly believes, for example, that the driver assistance device is in the fully automatic assistance mode and therefore lets go of the steering wheel in order to deal with the Infotainment system, in such a situation the vehicle may run off the road because the driver assistance device is, for example, not activated at all, that is to say a fully manual driving mode is demanded of the driver (this is therefore referred to as the manual assistance mode here).
The range of independence of the driver assistance device (automation range) which extends from manual driving to partial and full automation and then on to autonomy should in its complexity in future be transparent and easily comprehensible to the user in terms of operating it. Important properties of future operator control concepts are easily handled complexity of these four specified assistance modes, clear delineation between the individual assistance modes and characteristic operator control modalities within the individual assistance modes. Whereas operator control elements such as keys, a steering wheel or a lever, which are established for partial automation (for example cruise control, active lane control, i.e. lane keeping assistance), are available, until now there have only been theoretical approaches to the prototypical operator control for full automation and for autonomy. These approaches are frequently merely supplements or extensions of existing operator control concepts and constitute isolated solutions. Such isolated solutions generally do not amount to more than mere functional integration into existing operator control elements, which leads to an increase in the functional density of the individual operator control elements and therefore is not well targeted owing to the large number and complexity of the operator control devices which result here. The handling capabilities and functional variety of current operator control elements has already been fully exploited.